Call Me Severus
by thethreecatmigos
Summary: A cute short story about Professor Severus Snape. It's about Snape actually being happy for once.


**Call Me Severus**

As I walk to Potions class I pass by Harry Potter and his two friends. They're complaining about Professor Snape, and how rude he is to them.

"I wish Snape would just disapparate far away from here so we'd never see him again!" Ron says, seething with anger.

"Oh, come on Ron, he needs to go farther! Let him disapparate into another dimension!" Harry says and all three of them laugh.

"Come off it you three!" I exclaim making their heads swivel around trying to find the source of my voice. "Professor Snape's just having a bad day."

"So I guess everyday is a bad day for him since he has loathed me since I arrived at this school," Harry replied coldly. I glance around, trying to think of a good reply to this.

"He's probably just going through a hard time, you don't have to give him grief for it!"

"He constantly disrespects us, though!" Ron interjects.

"That doesn't mean you can be rude back! He is your elder, and you should respect your elders. Plus, he's your teacher, it is just proper etiquette to respect your teachers!" I say fiercely. All three of them look at me, then each other, then back at me. They mutter something along the lines of "Okay, whatever" and walk away without looking at me. I smile, knowing that i just successfully defended my favorite teacher.

I turn back towards potions and see Professor Snape watching me with a shocked expression on his face. When he sees that I noticed him, he quickly turns and walks back into the classroom with a slight smile. I blush furiously and reprimand myself for showing my adoration for in right in front of him.

I stumble along into the classroom, avoiding his gaze and put my stuff down, all the while looking at my shoes. I sit quietly as the rest of the class ambles in and sit down around me. I don't look up until Snape has said his usual introduction put the instructions on the board. We're making Shrinking Potion today, a fairly easy potion.

Tentatively I pull out the ingredients and slowly follow the instructions on the board. Adding the small measures of Fluxweed and bats wings. I'm almost done when I become slightly worried, my potion isn't the same color as it says it should be on the board. I start to panic as I hear Snape walking towards me, thinking I'm going to get an D for doing it wrong.

Finally he reaches me, and instead of making my potion disappear like he does with other failures, he whispers just loud enough for me to hear "Looks like you forgot the second measure of Boomslang skin," and walks away. I'm shocked at first because he never helps students and I just stare at his back as he walks away. Slowly my shock fades into a grin and I add the final ingredient to my cauldron. After five minutes it turns the right color and I silently celebrate.

At the end of class I pour a little bit of the potion into a flask and drop it off on Snape's desk. As I place the vial in the holder, I look Professor Snape in the eye and whisper "Thank you," then walk out of class. I can feel his eyes following me all the way out of the door. I skip all the way back to my dormitory to put my stuff away and head to dinner. I'm so excited, I feel I might burst. After years of fancying Snape, he's finally noticing me! I immediately start to plan a way to get him to talk to me more.

The next week, after an uneventful potions class where I stared at Snape almost the whole time and he glanced at me barely twice, I decided to try and get his help on a potion I was having trouble with. I walk down to his office after dinner, nervously playing with my book bag, trying to make a plan for what I'm going to say when I get there. I finally give up because I know I'll completely forget my plan when I see him. I slow down as I get nearer and finally stop in front of his door. Slowly, I turn the knob and push the door open slightly.

"Professor?" I call out. I stand there waiting for a reply. When it doesn't come, I ask "Can I come in?"

A fairly annoyed "Yes" emanates from inside and I push the door open enough so I can walk in. Quietly, I close the door behind me. Snape doesn't look up from some paperwork he's glaring at.

"C-can I t-talk to you?" I stutter, extremely nervous now. At the sound of my voice he looks up. The annoyed look on his face vanishes and is replaced with a sort of smile when he sees it is me.

"Of course!" He says as cheerfully as he can manage and conjures up a chair for me to sit in. "Have a seat," he nods towards the chair. Graciously I sit down, nodding my thanks. "Now, what do you want to talk about?"

"Um… Well, I was just wondering if you would help me with this potion I'm having trouble with. I follow your instructions carefully, but I just can't seem to get it right," I say very fast. I hold my breath, anxiously waiting for him to say something, anything.

"Sure, why don't you just set up your cauldron on that table over there and make the potion for me so I can tell you how to correct it if we come across any errors," he tells me. I nod, get up and move over to the table, very aware that Snape is right behind me. As I prepare the potion, Snape stands closely behind me, watching everything I do. Neither of us say a word until I start muttering to myself the instructions.

"Next, a splash of cowbane -" I'm cut off by Snape's voice. I nearly jump.

"No, it's the -"

"Rat spleen," we say in unison as both our hands reach for the ingredient. Our hands touch and I blush. He quickly pulls his back into his robes while I continue working.

"Yes, yes, it's rat spleen. The cowbane comes next," he says in a rush of words. Still blushing, I work on. After a few more minutes I finish the potion. I stare at it, amazed that I could make a potion so well. I turn to look at Snape who has an appraising look on his face.

"The rat spleen is where I must've gone wrong. Everything else went perfectly!" I say brightly. Snape just looks at me with a strange expression that I can't place. I suddenly feel a strong urge to kiss him but I restrain myself. I know that'd be wrong.

"Well, thank you for helping me with this! I'll read the instructions much more carefully next time," I say as I walk to the door. He follows closely behind and as I'm about to leave, he utters a "Wait." I turn to look at him and find that strange expression still there.

"I haven't told you thank you yet for defending me against Potter," he spits 'Potter' like it is poison on his tongue, "You're one of the only people who have ever done that for me and I'd like to say thank you." His face is turning bright red while he is talking and I giggle. Before I can stop myself, I wrap my hand around the back of his neck and pull him into a kiss. I pull away sharply with a gasp, horrified at what I had done. I start gesturing wildly with my hands as I spout apology after apology. Snape stares for a second in shock then slowly grabs my hands and pulls them down.

"Pro-professor I-I -"

"Shhh," he says in a calming tone and I immediately stop my rambling. "Call me Severus," he says, smiling, as he pulls me in for another kiss.


End file.
